Véronique Tadjo’s win carries a cash award of two million CFA Francs (approximately 3,000 euros), a trophy, and an invitation to the Geneva Book Fair.
By Abioye Damilare Samson
Ivorian-French author, Véronique Tadjo, has been awarded the 2025 Prix Ivoire for Francophone African Literature for her 2024 novel, Je remercie la nuit (I Thank the Night), published by Mémoire d’Encrier. The announcement was made on November 6, 2025, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The prize, established in 2008 by Akwaba Culture, celebrates works written in French by African writers or publishers from the continent and diaspora. Tadjo’s win carries a cash award of two million CFA Francs (approximately 3,000 euros), a trophy, and an invitation to the Geneva Book Fair. Previous recipients include Azza Filali (2024), Jennifer Richard (2023), and Hemley Boum (2013).
Chaired by writer and playwright, Werewere Liking-Gnépo, the jury praised Tadjo’s novel for its exploration of Côte d’Ivoire’s recent political turbulence, describing it as “this screaming light that permeates the reader’s mind”. They noted how the work captures an Africa “moving forward like a drunken dancer constantly searching for their step”.
In her acceptance remarks, Tadjo explained that she wrote the novel to centre the human cost of political crises, focusing on two students, Flora and Yasmina, who embody a generation “condemned to pay the price for the mistakes of their elders”. The narrative also draws parallels with South Africa, reflecting on lessons African nations can learn from one another. Tadjo described her book as “first and foremost a love story, a celebration of the beauty of art, and a tribute to resilience”.
A special mention was awarded to Cameroonian journalist and writer, Christian Eboulé, for Le Testament de Charles (Afrédit, 2025). Véronique Tadjo’s recognition underscores the continued vitality of francophone African literature and its engagement with the continent’s political and social realities